HSBC : ING and BNY Mellon among seven banks in blockchain loan bid

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HSBC, ING, and BNY Mellon are among seven top banks that are working together to create a platform for syndicated loans using blockchain technology, it emerged yesterday.

BNP Paribas and State Street are also among the financial institutions who have been named as involved in the project.

Well-known blockchain consortium R3 and Finastra - the UK financial software company formerly known as Misys combined with Canada'sDH Corp - will provide the technology side of things.

The online marketplace called Fusion LenderComm will use blockchain's distributed ledger technology (DLT) to increase transparency and efficiency for the loans which involve multiple lenders, while also reducing costs. Currently such work in the area is done manually.

"The community of banks already on board covers approximately 10 per cent of the global syndicated lending market and demonstrates the appetite to make this market utility a success," said Finastra's deputy chief executive Simon Paris yesterday. "As more participants join, we will quickly gain the critical mass to develop this into the leading marketplace for syndicated lending and loan trading."

State Street's global lead for syndicated loan products Robert Waddell said: "Fusion LenderComm has the potential to solve a problem whose solution has eluded the loan market since inception: distribution of loan information in a structured, timely, transparent manner that comes directly from the content creators - the agent banks."